The Ace of Spades
by ViridianK
Summary: Chris is convinced by Andy and Marco to go out to a strip club on Friday night instead of doing paperwork. What ensues is an awkward way to get a new addition to the team. Nivanfield, very suggestive.
1. Chapter 1: Clubbing

Chapter 1: Clubbing

"Mixed feelings, like mixed drinks, are a confusion to the soul." - George Carman

Going through paperwork and new recruits was one of Captain Redfield's _least_ favorite things to do on a Friday night before the weekend. They had recently had their sniper and A.T.L. transfer out and now Chris had to look for someone new to replace their last sniper. Chris sighed to himself, picking up a few more recommendations and shredding them. Nobody seemed to stand out, they were all too… _orderly_ too… _normal_ or too hell bent on being a part of Alpha Team for Chris' liking. He liked people who stood out, who weren't the typical left right salute kind of soldier. Like Marco and Andy for instance, they may be a pain in the Captain's ass sometimes but that is what made them a good addition to the team.

Chris stopped going through files and headed out to grab another cup of coffee, it was getting close to eleven at night, and he had been going through recommendations for the past two weeks and _still_ nobody seemed to jump out at him as the perfect sniper. Walking out the door Chris took a left, trying to rub some of the tiredness from his eyes on the way to go out the building. After another two or three turns Chris ran into Marco and Andy who seemed to have mischievous looks on their faces tonight.

Quirking and eyebrow Andy had to force himself to not smile. _"How's it going tonight Captain?"_

Chris stopped and crossed his burly arms in response. _"Same as it has been going Andy. What do you two want now I'm __**still**__ going through those damn recommendations."_

Marco chuckled at Chris. _"Oh come on Chris just pick one already and be done with it, how hard can it be to find a sniper?"_

Chris snorted. _"Harder than you think Marco, how many recommendations do you think I went through before I found you idiots?"_

Andy scoffed. _"None for me because I'm just that damn good."_

Chris raised an eyebrow at Andy. _"Is that so? You think you are good enough to try and go up against me then Andy?"_

Andy laughed nervously. _"Uh n-no… just um… you know, I'm just that good it was a no brainer right?"_

Chris snickered at Andy. _"At a loss for words now are we Andy?"_

Andy rubbed the back of his head nervously. _"Ahem, um, anyway Captain, wait for us after you're done we got something to show you tonight."_

Chris raised an eyebrow at Andy again. _"Oh? And just what exactly, do you plan on showing me?"_

Marco laughed at Andy's nervousness. _"A good time Captain! What can be better than going out to a bar on a Friday night?"_

Chris scoffed. _"Finding something good in that damn paperwork would be better than going to a bar."_

Marco smiled. _"Don't worry Captain it'll still be there in the morning, have some fun and break loose! Bet we could get you drunk while we're at it!"_

Chris' eyes lit up with a fiery challenge. _"Oh really? You guys think you can get ME____drunk eh?"_

Andy chimed in much less nervously this time. _"Drunk and then some Captain!"_

Chris managed a glance back towards the direction his office was in, then sighed and looked back to Andy and Marco. _"You know what, sure. Meet me back here later I'm going to go grab a cup of coffee and then look at a few more files before you guys show me a "fun" night."_

Andy and Marco both threw their fists into the air and cheered. Chris smiled and laughed, walking the rest of the way outside to go to a café for a cup of joe. Upon entering, Chris was slightly taken aback at how busy a café could be so late at night. He couldn't find a single table that was empty and ended up waiting in line to get a cup to leave. Before Chris was able to get his coffee he heard thunder outside and a severe downpour started. It looked like he wouldn't be walking back to his office, **yet**. Sighing, Chris stayed in line to get his drink.

"_Hello Sir, how can I help you today?"_

Chris thought for a moment, looking at the menu. _"Hmm… I'll take a cup of your strongest coffee, no cream."_

"_Coming right up!"_

Chris sat down on a nearby stool to wait, but suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder. Chris turned his head slightly to see who was behind him. He was greeted by the sight of a younger man with a flip of hair on the front of his head that almost made Chris want to think the word *cute* before he heard the man start speaking.

"_You need a spot to sit?"_ Chris noticed how the man seemed to throw a hip out but quickly tore his sight away from that to see the man raising an eyebrow in question.

"_Yeah, sure, I guess."_ Chris accepted the man's offer, receiving his coffee less than a minute later.

Chris got up and followed the man to a corner of the shop that seemed much quieter than the rest of it with a small table sitting in the corner. The man sat down and Chris slid in on the other side of the table. Chris started to sip his coffee, wondering why someone asked him if he needed a seat, but then he noticed that the younger man was sitting here _reading_, in the middle of the night.

Motioning to the book Chris raised his eyebrow in questioning. _"Read at a café in the middle of the night all the time?"_

The man smiled back at him which brought a slight quirk to the corners of Chris' mouth. _"Not really, I just happened to stop here for a bit before I go off to my uh… __**job**__."_

Chris leaned in slightly interested. _"Job huh, must be more interesting than having to go through paperwork for days on end."_

The man moved back from Chris slightly, although he couldn't go far. _"Yeah uh… I guess you could say that."_

Chris scratched his chin in thought for a moment. _"So uh… what kind of __**job**__ exactly, do you have?"_

The man cleared his throat nervously. _"I uh… dance…"_

Chris laughed. _"Is that all?"_

The man rubbed the back of his head and blushed slightly red. _"Well um… it's uh… __**that**__ kind of… dancing…"_

Chris scrunched his eyebrows in confusion for a moment. _"… OH you mean… __**THAT**__ kind of dancing?"_

The man cleared his throat for probably the hundredth time since starting his conversation with Chris. _"… yeah… I mean it pays the bills so…"_

Chris looked away for a moment, embarrassed. _"Well that's uh… good… sorry I didn't mean to make it awkward."_

A small smile came back to the man's face. _"Not at all! I just don't uh… usually tell anyone about it outside of work."_

Chris chuckled and clapped him on the shoulder. _"That's fine, and that is also your business so don't let me pry. There's always more to someone than what they do for a living."_

The man raised an eyebrow at Chris. _"Really huh? You seem to be quite… inquisitive, if I do say so myself."_

It was Chris' turn to be surprised. _"Really? As far as I know I'm about as inquisitive and emotional as a pile of dirt."_

The man laughed and locked his gaze with Chris for an awkward moment before dropping it. _"Well… you don't seem __**that**__ dull, sir."_

Chris shook his head amused. _"I'm pretty sure I am, but please, call me Chris."_

Chris extended his hand to shake the other man's who obliged and reached his own arm out as well. _"Nivans, Piers Nivans, nice to meet you, Chris."_

"_Nice to meet you as well, Mr. Nivans." _Chris was beginning to like this man even if he did do… **that** kind of dancing, as Chris had put it.

"_Thanks, so uh, why are you here exactly? Surely you could find a better place for coffee at this time of night."_

Chris shrugged. _"The coffee at the office is fucking horrible, and I needed a place to get some fresh air, but well you know, didn't really expect this many people in a café so late at night."_

Piers chuckled. _"Yeah, this is a pretty busy place on Friday."_

Chris smiled again and looked at his watch. _"Oh shit! I'm sorry I gotta go, I'm supposed to be meeting some friends to head on out, sorry!"_

Piers laughed as Chris rushed out the door, bumping into several people on the way out. Piers reached for where he had set his book down and noticed it was missing. He sat there for a moment with a frown on his face confused.

_*Where the hell did my book go…*_ Then Piers realized something else was sitting on the table where the book used to be, Chris' wallet.

**oOoOoOoOo**

Chris hurried out of the café through the rain, running as fast as he could back to his office. He got inside and set his stuff down, determined to go through a few more applicants before he was ready to leave. Reaching around by his wallet Chris picked up a few of them and started reading.

_Rex Salazar –_

_ 6' 3" 153 lbs._

_ Specialty: Recon and Special Ops_

_ Recommendation: Rex Salazar is one of the best Special Ops candidates we have had in months. Good leadership skills, along with marksmanship and tactical training Salazar has proven to be effective and malleable while in the field of duty._

Chris grunted to himself and sent that recommendation into the shredder. Nothing he hasn't read before, same glowing recommendation from some person Chris could care less about. Still, nothing jumped out at Chris saying _*I've got what it takes!*_ Chris was starting to think he would never be able to find that one in a million chance.

Andy and Marco were chilling in the break room when they saw Chris walk by, drenched from the rain. They sat there for a while longer before deciding to go and walk over to Chris' office to see if he was ready to go.

"_Psst Andy, you got that shit ready?" _Marco asked with an evil smile.

Andy almost cackled, quietly. _"You know I do Marco! Chris won't know what hit him tomorrow morning haha!"_

Andy and Marco both walked up to Chris' door, laughing together like idiots. When they knocked they heard a gruff *come in* and then opened the door and entered. Chris was still soaking wet, but that wouldn't matter where they were going.

"_You ready to go Captain? The night's still young!"_

Chris rolled his eyes. _"Whatever Andy, let's just go already."_

Andy and Marco both cheered again while Chris followed them out of the office. They ran into Jill on the way out and asked Chris how the applicants were going. He just simply replied that he hadn't found anyone that stood out yet. Jill nodded and even told a small story about how hard it was for her to find people that stood out as well. She waved them good bye and they headed on out to Andy's truck.

Andy and Marco both sat in the front talking about random crap Chris couldn't care less about, he just kept thinking back to the man he had seen earlier at the coffee shop. Some things about Piers just seemed to make Chris feel odd. For one, why would a complete stranger offer someone a seat in a coffee shop full of people? Sure, Chris had been told that he did _**that**_ kind of dancing, but then he was also _reading_ in there, who did that in the middle of the night? Chris was broken from his thoughts when he went to open his wallet that he had grabbed before leaving.

_*What the fuck… why do I have a book…*_

Chris suddenly flashed back to the man in the café. He was _reading_ a book, and that just happened to be the book Chris had with him. This to Chris meant that he fucked up and left his wallet there while he took the man's book with him. Chris groaned and smacked the book to his forehead. Andy and Marco glanced back and laughed. They took about ten minutes to get to the club and when Chris stepped out of the truck he groaned again and hit his head on the truck to the door in frustration. Andy and Marco brought him to a _**strip club**_ to make him relax?

"_Why the hell did you guys bring me to a __**Strip club**__?"_

Andy laughed. _"Calm down Chris, you need to lighten up and get some excitement in your life!"_

Chris sighed. _"I have enough excitement wondering if you two are actually going to get me drunk. Now to think you're going to try and get me to take a lap dance while you're at it? Jesus Christ, Andy."_

Marco piped up. _"Oh c'mon Chris! Spades isn't just __**any**__ strip club; it's got the hottest bitches in town!"_

Chris sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. _"Whatever, let's just get this damn bet over with."_

Marco and Andy laughed like idiots, leading Chris inside the club. They took a table in the corner of the club and Marco walked off to go get the drinks. Chris just sighed and decided he could cut loose for a night and started watching the entertainment. There wasn't much going on, just men and women dancing around horny people in the same corny costumes.

Marco came back over with the drinks and slid one to Chris. _"Alright Chris, betcha a hundred bucks that one drink can knock you on your ass."_

Chris scowled into his drink for a moment. _"This tiny ass drink, is supposed to be what knocks me on my ass tonight?"_

Marco tried to smile innocently, **tried**. _"Yep, nothing but that one little drink."_

Chris chuckled with a fire for challenge in his eyes. _"Fine then, you're losing your bet, but I swear if you put something in this I'm kicking your ass when I wake up."_

Marco laughed while Chris downed the drink in one gulp, the sting of alcohol burning his throat slightly. Marco and Andy glanced at each other and smiled evilly, it was only a matter of time before Chris would be out on his ass. It took a few minutes but then they noticed Chris' eyes become blood shot and his speech started to get extremely slurred while they continued chugging their own beers.

"_F-fuck did you guysh put into this shhh-shit huh?"_

"_Oh shit Marco how much did you put in there?!"_ Andy threw his hands up in mock exasperation.

Marco smiled wickedly. _"Oh you know, "enough" to get him good and wasted."_

"_F-fuck y-you guysh, I'm gonna kick your asshes in the m-morning."_

They were interrupted when an announcer came on over the speakers.

_*Ladies and Gentlement, let's give a big welcome to our newest dancer tonight. He's young, he's hot, and he's covert. He is-_

_The Ace of Spades!*_

Marco and Andy watched as someone came out on stage in a military getup wearing a shemagh. They watched him dance around the stage for a moment and then he started going around the room giving random people a lap dance.

Marco nudged Andy in the shoulder. _"Dude! This would be perfect while Chris is still fucked up!"_

Andy seemed to understand where he was going with this. _"Man that's fucking evil and he won't even remember anything in the morning!"_

Marco clapped him on the shoulder. _"All the more reason we should get that guy to do it!"_

Andy smiled back. _"Agreed, dude hurry up and wave him over here while Chris is still at least awake!"_

Marco and Andy waved to the "Ace of Spades" who had since stripped himself of his shirt, revealing a lean body. When the "Ace of Spades" saw them waving he made his way over, and chuckled silently to himself beneath his shemagh when he saw the man that was drunk off his ass.

"_Hey buddy, want to help us play a prank on our Captain here?"_

The Ace shrugged his shoulders and started giving the man a lap dance, which he leaned into drunkenly slurring his speech so hard it was unintelligible. _"I guess I could play along for some fun, what do you have in mind?"_

"_Well you see here, since we kind of spiked Chris' drink and he won't remember any of this shit in the morning, we thought we could make him freak the fuck out and think he did something crazy."_

The Ace chuckled behind his shemagh as Chris started drunkenly nipping at his neck._ "Shmells g-good guysh."_

Marco clapped The Ace on the shoulder. _"So what do ya say buddy, wanna help us pull a prank on him?"_

The Ace shrugged. _"Sure, what do I do?"_

Marco and Andy looked at each other and smirked before Andy replied. _"Just take him home with ya and make him think he slept with ya. He won't remember a thing, we hit him Georgia Homeboy style."_

The Ace raised an eyebrow that Marco and Andy could barely see. _"Really now, GHB style eh? Well, I guess I could do it for some fun, want me to just come back after the shows over?" _Chris was now trying to make out with The Ace while muttering someone's name.

"_Yep! See ya after the show buddy!"_

**oOoOoOoOo**

Chris had a massive headache when he woke up in the morning. He felt oddly comfortable, his bed seemed warmer than it usually did but then again, he couldn't remember anything that had happened after Marco slid him that drink in the club last night. Groaning, Chris sat up in bed, rubbing circles at his temples to try and curb the migraine coursing through his head. That's when he realized he wasn't alone in the bed. Sitting next to him, reading that same damn book, was the man he had seen in the café last night. They were both _naked_, and Chris had _**ZERO**_ clue how the hell he got there.

Staring at him wide-eyed and having a fearful look Chris tried stuttering out some words. _"D-did we uh… how d-did I get… what the fuck h-happened…"_

That is when Piers turned to face Chris. _"Oh hey you're awake. Thanks for carrying my book for me by the way, did you really not realize you walked out with a book instead of a wallet?"_

Chris looked at him dumbfounded and said one more thing before he blacked out from his migraine. _"Did we fuck?"_


	2. Chapter 2: The Morning After

Chapter 2: the Morning After

Piers chuckled to himself, watching the older man fall unconscious after asking him that question. Piers turned back to his book, deciding to wait for Chris to wake up again, but then he heard his phone buzz. Piers picked it up from the table next to his bed and slid his screen across. He had a text from one of the guys from last night, Marco.

_*Hey buddy, Chris wake up yet?*_

_*Yeah __ thinks we actually did something but he blacked out __*_

_*Oh damn that sucks. Just play along though, see how long it'll take until he figures it out __*_

_*Sure thing __ met him last night in a café, although I don't really think he knew that was me in the club.*_

_*Damn no kidding? Dude I don't think he remembers ANYTHING after we spiked his drink last night!*_

_* He sure doesn't. First thing the old man asked me was "Did we fuck"*_

_*Uh… did you?*_

_*Umm… is that a yes or no?_

_*__ Cya later.*_

Piers silenced the buzzer on his phone and turned it off, so incase either Andy or Marco decided to call it would go straight to voice mail. Piers set his phone down on the table next to the bed and went back to his book. Reading a few lines, Piers absently glanced over to his shemagh, remembering how he had gotten it in the first place.

_December 24__th__, 2007 6:03 P.M._

_ Piers and his mom at been at home for three weeks after receiving news that Piers' dad had gone missing in action. Piers sat in the living room, watching the snow fall slowly to the ground. He sighed and watched as his breath fogged up the window in front of his face. He started writing words into the fog on the window, giving a written form to questions he couldn't bear to voice out loud._

_***Where are you, Dad? How did this happen? Why hasn't anyone told us anything else or why you're gone?***_

_ Eventually, Piers' mom came in to try to comfort him and get him to eat some dinner. He hadn't been eating well lately and he was starting to waste away, the stress from having no new information wearing down on him heavier every day. Piers wouldn't move, just sighing again and watching his breath fog up the window over the questions he had written. His mother tried for a few more minutes to get him to come eat, but she eventually gave up and just brought a bowl of soup in and sad it down next to Piers. It didn't seem like anything short of his father could snap Piers out of his depression, and his mother was starting to fear the worst._

_6:42:04 P.M._

_ Piers was still sitting in the living room, staring at the window, waiting for someone to come home who never would. The soup next to him had gone cold and it was still left untouched. Now lining the window was dozens more questions, some starting to not be covered up by the warm fog of new breath on the window itself. Piers heard an engine coming down the road and perked up, hoping to see something that he never would._

_ In the next moment a pair of headlights appeared out of the gloom, the snow picking up and the headlights being the only visible thing more than two feet from the window. Piers couldn't even see the black box that was carried up to the door when he rushed from the window to answer. Piers grabbed the handle and turned it, swinging the door back while his heart began to beat faster out of eagerness._

_ Piers' heart sank through his chest; standing in front of him was an old family friend holding a black box that Piers had always dreaded seeing. His fears were confirmed by the solemn look on the woman's' face. Jill Valentine was holding the last belongings that their father had with him before he went missing. Jill gave Piers a sympathetic look but he wouldn't acknowledge it. He let Jill push past him into the house and called for his mother, telling her that Jill was here._

_ Jill walked with Piers' mother into the living room, taking a seat on the couch to deliver the news. Piers stood nearby, not wanting to meet Jill's eyes but instead staying focused on the box. After a minute or so of talking, giving praise and all that other crap nobody ever cares to hear after someone dies, Jill opened the box. Piers was almost overcome by grief and tears pricked the corners of his vision as he stared at the shemagh his father always- __**used**__, to wear. Jill saw Piers all but ready to break down, standing at the edges of her vision. She set it down and walked over to him, giving him a reassuring hug._

_***Hey, it will all be OK Piers. Just remember what things used to be like, the impact he made OK? Don't ever let anyone tell you he wasn't a good man, he saved a lot of people from much… more dire situations.***_

_ Piers cringed back when she said that. How much more dire could it be for anyone other than to be reported M.I.A. and have no sign of them for almost a month before they were apparently declared as dead? Piers pulled himself from her grasp and went up to his room. Jill didn't do anything, just watched as Piers stormed away from her to deal with his grief in his own way. Jill looked to his mother and she looked to be in much the same way, but she was silently sobbing to herself, knowing that the news they had been hoping to never get was finally here._

_ Jill stayed for another hour or so, talking with Piers' mom to help as much as she could. After that she left without the box, giving as much of a heartfelt goodbye to them as she could, saying that she would check in from time to time. Piers' mom stayed in the living room for a moment, watching Jill leave. After Jill had left she took the box, making sure to keep the shemagh neatly inside of it, and made the agonizing journey up to Piers' room._

_ Opening the door Mrs. Nivans found Piers sitting on his chair by the desk his father had built for him. The desk was made from the wood of an oak tree, and Piers' dad had hand crafted him that desk as a birthday present last year. Piers was using the chair to sit next to his own bedroom window, arms crossed and rested on the ledge next to it, staring out into nowhere. His mom inched closer, trying not to startle him and saw even more questions written onto window's fog._

_***Why Dad? Why didn't you tell us what was going to happen? Why wouldn't you just leave and come back?***_

_ Piers' mom moved forward, setting the box down on the desk next to Piers. He ignored her, didn't even acknowledge her when she shook his shoulder. So Mrs. Nivans left the room, leaving her son to deal with everything how he would. _

_8:39:01 P.M._

_ Sitting at the window for over an hour Piers finally decided to manage a glance to the box that contained something Piers never thought he would see without his father. He opened it and stared at the shemagh. The color of a forest, something his father always used on his missions, and now there was nothing left for it to camouflage. Piers stared at it for a moment, seeming to comprehend more about it than anyone ever thought he would be able to. Piers covered the shemagh back up inside of the black box, letting the tears roll down his face as he buried his head in his arms. Sometime that night, Piers drifted off into a fitful sleep filled with nightmares of what could have happened, and dreams of the one person he would never see again._

_7:32:41 A.M. 25__th__ December, 2007_

_ Piers woke up in the morning on his bed, momentarily forgetting about the events of the night before. Piers thought everything that just been a terrible dream, and then his eyes fell on the box sitting on his desk. Piers' heart sank again, and he fell into a depression that his mother wasn't able to break. Piers ate a little, but he wouldn't talk to his mother or acknowledge her whenever she spoke to him._

_ The next two days went the same; Piers continued to ignore his mother and his moods seemed to become darker and darker. Piers spent increasingly longer amounts of time staring at the windows and scrawling questions into the fog that would never be answered._

_8:31:59 P.M. 27__th__ December, 2007_

_ Piers had been sitting at home, staring at the box containing his father's shemagh. His mom at gone out to pick up some things they needed, but that had been over two hours ago, and she should have been back by now. Piers heard a ring at the door and slowly got up, making his way to the bottom of the stairs and eventually, the door._

_ Opening the door, Piers' face contorted with confusion. Jill was standing there again, a tear threatening to fall from her left eye as a blizzard was raging during the night. She asked Piers if she could come in, and he didn't reply verbally but instead moved aside and motioned for her to come in. As she did Piers started to wonder why Jill was coming to his house so late at night._

_ Piers watched her as she stooped down to balance on the balls of her feet, to be a little lower to Piers considering she was over a foot taller than him. Piers continued to look at her in confusion and eventually Jill drew him into a hug, which brought a surprised gasp from Piers, the first noise he had made in almost three days. Then Jill delivered the news that broke Piers even further._

_***Piers… I'm sorry your mom she's… she's gone…***_

_ At first Piers didn't even register the words Jill had said. Then it hit him, she was saying that his mom was __**gone**__. First his dad is reported missing and they get no information other than he is labeled as dead after __**three weeks**__, and now, not even a week after that, his mom dies too. Jill kept Piers in a hug for a while, even when he tried to break away from her. After Piers was able to get free he went up to his room, burying his face into his pillow and letting all his bottled up grief flow freely from his eyes. Jill came up after about five minutes, standing at the door way and just watching Piers._

_ After everything was done, Jill did as much as she could to help Piers. She offered to take him in and care for him, but eventually he was forced into foster care, and Jill couldn't do anything other than watch in dismay. Piers spent the rest of the time he had until he could get out of foster care moving from home to home. He never made friends with anyone, keeping to himself as much as he could which caused him to move homes so much. He always kept the shemagh with him, always wearing it around his neck. In one of the homes, some kid had decided it would be funny to tear a piece of it off, and Piers had broken his arm for it. He was immediately moved to a different foster home and from then on everyone was warned._

_***If anyone messes with his scarf, they aren't going to like what happens.***_

_ On his eighteenth birthday Piers left the foster system. He got by doing odd jobs for the next few years, doing whatever he could when he could. Whenever he had extra money lying around he would head to a shooting range to vent his grief and remember the days that his life used to be like, when his dad was still around. After the first few years Piers started going around to clubs, dancing as an actual job rather than just doing whatever came his way. It seemed like his life couldn't get any better until he had met Chris in the café, and it all seemed just a little bit brighter._

oOoOoOoOo

Piers kept looking at the shemagh, still lost in his memories when he decided to get up for the day and try to wash it all away. Piers climbed out of the bed as softly as he could, so he didn't wake up Chris and headed into the bathroom. Piers turned on the shower and waited for it to get hot. Stepping in Piers let the steaming water run down his body, washing away the worries and disparities if only for a moment. Piers eventually relaxed a little and slid down to sit in the tub, the shower still running and beating down on his entire body as he sat there.

Piers sobbed silently to himself, letting the grief overcome him for a rare moment. He had never spoken to anyone about it all, not even Jill on the night that she came to tell him the news. Piers rested his head in his hands, letting his tears mix in with the hot water running down his body to drain out of the tub. Piers sat in there for several minutes, and then turned the shower off to step out of his and towel off.

Piers looked at himself in the mirror. The circles under his eyes were a little darker today, and his eyes were red, obvious signs that he had been crying. Those would be gone soon enough though, replaced with the shroud that he kept over himself, keeping anyone else from ever looking in. Piers sighed, pushing back from the mirror and stepping out of the bathroom, wrapping a towel around himself. He slowly walked over to the bed, sitting down on the edge of it and looking at the shemagh again, becoming immersed in his own memories like they were alive before him.

Piers kept looking, never tearing his vision away from the one item he had left from the man he had always looked up to. He suddenly felt a trembling hand on his shoulder and turned around to see what it was. Piers had almost forgotten that there was someone else in the room. Chris had his eyes shut tightly, one hand gripping his head and the other one trembling on Piers' shoulder. Piers looked at him a moment before Chris started trying to speak.

"_W-what the hell happened last night?"_ Chris felt like he was about to vomit.

Piers smiled wryly. _"What, didn't get enough of me last night, that was a pretty rough ride wasn't it?"_

Chris forced and eye open to look at Piers. _"What are you talking about? What happened last night, who are you?"_

Piers turned around more fully and Chris' face flushed, seeing Piers' exposed chest. _"What, was it really that great that you just forgot about everything?"_

Chris shook his head in response. _"I really had no idea what you are talking about."_

Piers shook his head, seeing the anguished look on Chris' face he decided to tell him what happened. _"Well, ok fine. You're friends brought you up to a club and spiked your drink. You remember me from the café?"_

Chris nodded in response, able to remember most of the conversation the two of them had had the night before. Piers smiled and swung his legs up onto the bed, Chris flinching back a little when he realized Piers had on nothing but a towel. Piers chuckled as Chris continued to clutch his head at the raging headache coursing through him.

"_Oh don't worry, I won't do anything you don't ask for."_

Chris groaned. _"Ugh, what the hell did we do?"_

Piers smiled. _"Nothing, actually, your friends spiked your drink and decided to play a prank on you."_

Chris groaned again. _"I'm going to kick their asses the next time I see them."_

Piers laughed a little and got up, walking away to go get Chris some stuff to help with his headache. Chris waited a few agonizing minutes while his headache continued to rage before Piers came back in. As Chris watched Piers came over and set some water and a few pills down next to him, then moved to the other side of the room and let the towel drop, revealing the rest of him that Chris hadn't seen yet. Chris flushed red and turned his head away, occupying himself with the water and pills.

Chris downed them and turned back around, seeing that Piers was now fully clothed. Piers didn't say anything to Chris, just dropped back down into the bed next to him. Chris watched with his one open eye as Piers absorbed himself back into a book. It was some kind of military book but Chris couldn't make out much with his bitch of a headache, and then he noticed something on the other side of the room, on an oak desk next to Piers.

Chris motioned to it and grabbed Piers' attention from the book. _"W-what's that?"_

Piers looked to where he was pointing and sighed, closing his book and turning back to Chris. _"It's… it's a memory of something I used to see."_


	3. Chapter 3: Rebuilding the Bridge

Chapter 3: Rebuilding the Bridge

"In every conceivable manner, the family is a link to our past, the bridge to the future." – Alex Haley

Chris motioned to it and grabbed Piers' attention from the book. "W-what's that?"

Piers looked to where he was pointing and sighed, closing his book and turning back to Chris. _"It's… it's a memory of something I used to see."_

Chris squinted his eyes at the object across the room once more wondering what it could possibly mean to this man and started scratching at a headful of dark brown hair as he lazily switched his gaze back to Piers. _"A memory?"_

Piers nodded to Chris again, barely able to break his eyes away from the shemagh that had haunted his memories for years. He wasn't willing to talk about it, especially not after how long he's kept it in. Subtly brushing off the subject, Piers looked back into his book and shrugged, _"It was a long time ago, it'll probably bore you to death anyways." _

"_No, I'll be glad to hear it."_ Chris stared at Piers a little too intensely for a moment and then looked down at the bed, tracing odd little pictures through the creases of the blanket. "Besides, how bad could it be?"

_*Worse than you think.* _Piers thought sourly, keeping his gaze out of Chris' wandering eyes. When he didn't respond, Chris looked towards the other and frowned lightly, brown irises searching the younger face near him.

"_You're not gonna tell me, are you?" _Chris was looking at the younger man with a bit of sadness in his eyes.

Piers looked over towards the older man next to him, keeping his vision anywhere other than the man's eyes. _"No… not to someone I don't know."_

Chris actually felt a little hurt at that, almost inching away from the other man. _"Well… maybe I could get to know you then?"_

Piers grumbled to himself and closed his book, finally shifting his gaze up to meet the other man's eyes. _"So tell me why exactly someone like __**you**__ would want to get to know someone like __**me**__?" _

Chris smiled nervously. _"Because I for one know that there is always more to someone than what they do in life. What people __**don't**__ know about someone is more telling than what they __**do**__ know."_

Piers flared his nostrils. _"So what makes you think I would actually tell you something more than you already know?"_

Chris raised his hands up in mock defeat. _"Nothing, I was just hoping you might want to share it with someone else."_

Piers stopped his conversation for a moment, turning away from Chris and looking once at the shemagh lying on the desk, and then out of the window. The day was just starting to light up, the sun rising in the distance behind a thick layer of gray clouds giving a depressing look to the scenery lurking right outside Piers' bedroom window. Piers let his thoughts run away for a moment, and was suddenly taken back to past events like it was yesterday.

**oOoOoOoOo**

___Jill came over again, trying to get Piers to talk. She walked in like always, and Piers would just be sitting at a window staring off into nowhere. Jill always had to force Piers to eat something so he wouldn't starve himself to death. Today was different though, when Jill walked in through the door she almost had a heart attack at how different the scene was playing out before her._

_ Piers had a small fire lit in the fireplace, and he was sitting nearby eating something, although it wasn't much. Jill saw that Piers had turned the television on and was watching the news. She grimaced inwardly to herself at what he was watching, and became curious as to how something like this could snap him out of his depressed stupor._

_Jill walked over cautiously; resting a hand on the top of the seat Piers was sitting on. _**"Hey, Piers, how's it going today?"**

_Piers shrugged his shoulders, keeping his eyes glued onto the television. _**"Not much I guess, I decided to turn on the T.V. for once and saw this… this is what you and my dad were working to stop right?"**

_Jill sighed to herself, turning her vision to the television and seeing a civilian news report with updates on the most recent outbreak from a virus. _**"Yeah… but turn that off you shouldn't be watching something like that."**

_Piers' eyebrows narrowed for a moment before he answered her, turning back to watch the news playing. _**"Jill, I have to know about this sooner or later. This is why my dad went missing, isn't it?"**

_Jill sighed, biting her bottom lip before deciding to answer. _**"Yeah… but did anyone ever tell you **_**why**_** he went missing?"**

_Piers nodded his head in resignation, nobody had ever bothered to tell him anything other than the fact that his father has gone missing during a mission. _**"Well… I was with him on that mission… along with a few other people…"**

_Jill had Piers' attention now, if only for a moment, focused on her instead of the television. _**"What?! You were with him?! What happened to him Jill?!"**

_Jill sighed again. _**"Your dad was providing cover for us while we were making our escape with some vital Intel. Me and my partner got separated, and your dad was the one who brought us back together. I don't know what happened to him after that Piers, nobody does. He looked at us and told us to get out while he went back into the hot zone looking for something."**

_Piers looked down for a moment in thought. _**"So then… he might not actually be dead?"**

_Jill shrugged her shoulders and moved around the couch to sit down next to Piers. _**"I don't know, nobody has heard so much as a single word from him since it happened."**

_Piers looked to the television again. _**"So… who was this partner of yours that my dad risked his life to help?"**

_ Piers looked back over to Jill who was smiling slightly with a far off look in her eyes. She looked towards Piers and still had the same happy look on her face, although now it was tinged with a sharp sting of sadness. Piers dropped his gaze for a moment before shifting it back up. Piers watched as Jill began to open her mouth, and then the scenery around him began to dissolve._

**oOoOoOoOo**

"_No! Jill, Jill who was it?! Jill!"_ Piers was shaking, clawing at the fading pieces of a vivid memory he had pushed to the back of his mind.

Piers was shaking, almost violently, as he tried to remember the conversation he had all but pushed to the deepest parts of his mind. There were tears running down his face as he began sobbing, trying to remember things Jill had once told him. Piers buried his head in his hands for a moment to let everything run its course, but then he suddenly felt a warm touch on his shoulder, wrapping around his back.

"_Hey… what's wrong?"_ It was Chris, and he had moved over next to Piers to throw an arm around his shoulder and started rubbing it.

Piers didn't lift his gaze to meet Chris'. _"Just… things that I thought were buried…"_

Chris smiled down at him, although Piers still couldn't see it. _"Hey now, don't bury the past. Sometimes the past is what can lead you to a new future."_

Piers slowly stopped sobbing, the sounds of them being replaced by the occasional shuddering breath. _"I doubt my past could lead to anything good as far as my future is concerned, I've gone so far from it that I don't think I could ever get back."_

Chris started stroking Piers' shoulder in a hopefully reassuring way, ignoring the awkwardness that happened when Chris woke up from his sleep. _"Everyone can come back from even the deepest depths of the shit they've gotten into. You seem like someone that could be beaten down to nothing and then get back up and say *Try again.*"_

Piers smiled wryly. _"I used to be… not anymore…"_

Chris frowned slightly. _"Oh, and why is that?"_

Piers narrowed his eyes for a moment. _"Still trying to get there huh?"_

Chris smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. _"Yeah… I can be pretty stubborn…"_

Piers actually laughed which had Chris returning that notion with a smile. _"I'll say, you sure you aren't still messed up on everything from that spiked drink you had?"_

Chris raised an eyebrow. _"No… do you want me to be?"_

Piers tapped his finger to his chin in thought for a moment. _"I… no, I guess not."_

Chris smiled and pulled Piers in closer to him from the shoulder he was still gripping. _"That's great. So… why did you start uh… stripping…?"_

Piers sighed; this was something he had thought over himself time and time again. _"Well… I guess it's just that for that little bit of time… everything just kind of melts away, seems like people… you know, look at me like I'm not broken, not try to figure out why I'm the way I am. Before that I mean."_

Piers finished that with a rather quick remark and rubbed the back of his head, turning red while looking slightly at Chris who just chuckled. _"It's alright, you aren't broken, or not that I can see at least. Really though, I am only trying to ask because I feel like… I don't know, you are someone worth getting to know?"_

Piers leaned his head back against Chris' shoulder and closed his eyes, smiling genuinely. _"Thanks… you're the first person to care at all since Ms. Valentine came by to tell me the news a few years ago… and even then I tried to ignore her as much as I could and haven't seen her since…"_

Chris tried to process those words for a moment, brow furrowing and face frowning in concentration. _"Ms. Valentine… as in __**Jill**__ Valentine?"_

Piers opened one eye and looked at Chris confused. _"Uh yeah… why?"_

Chris broke into a huge grin when Piers said yes. _"I happen to know Jill that's why, so you're the kid she took some time off for a few years ago?"_

Piers grunted in a slight bit of annoyance. _"I'm not a __**kid**__ anymore, so __**please**__ don't call me that."_

Chris chuckled a little in response to his annoyance. _"What should I call you then?"_

The corners of Piers' mouth turned up in a slight smirk. _"Piers, forget already Mister Redfield?"_

"_Okay then Piers, so how long has it been since you've seen Jill?"_

Piers' head dropped slightly although it still rested on Chris' shoulder. _"A few years… I don't think she ever found out what happened to me after I snapped at her and told her to leave me alone…"_

Chris laughed loudly and received a confused face from Piers. _"What's so funny?"_

Chris quieted himself down. _"Nothing, just that I think Jill might be happy to find out you're… okay?"_

Piers raised an eyebrow as Chris finished that statement out in a questioning way. _"Yeah… I'm fine; just don't tell her what I do?"_

Chris nodded in understanding. _"Alright well, I think I will head on out of here, I have some asses that need to be taught a lesson."_

Piers chuckled. _"Have fun with that."_

Chris nodded and shook Piers' hand, getting up and dressing himself since he was still embarrassingly naked. Chris headed on out the door after he got dressed, leaving Piers with nothing more than a shake of the hand and a halfhearted goodbye. Chris started up his truck, which thankfully someone had decided to bring to Piers' house and Chris had to start up his GPS so he could get home. Pulling into his driveway Chris began to mull over the awkward conversation he had had during the day in his head. Some things were unclear, and some were very clear, but one thing was for sure, Chris wanted to show Piers that he was worth something to someone. Chris brought out his phone and decided to talk to Jill about Piers.

_*Ring ring… ring ring…* "Hello? This is Jill."_

Chris smiled to himself and wondered how much he was about to surprise her. _"Hey Jill, I got a question for you."_

"_Ha ha, what do you want you old bear?"_

Chris chuckled into the phone. _"Well, you remember that kid you took some time off for a few years ago?"_

Chris waited as he heard Jill pondering something through the phone. _"Yeah… a little bit, why?"_

"_Well… I just happened to meet him today, and wanted to know what he used to like to do."_

Chris could hear the curious tone in her voice. _"Oh really, how is he doing, and __**why**__ do you want to know what he liked to do?"_

Chris rubbed the back of his head sheepishly even though Jill couldn't see him. _"Well um… he is kind of in a bad… place I want to say? Figured doing something he enjoys might make him realize people can still give a shit about someone these days."_

Jill giggled into the phone. _"Ok Chris, just tell him I said hi and I know he used to love bowling or anything that really had to do with some kind of aim."_

Chris smiled. _"Alright thanks Jill, cya Monday."_

"_Cya you old bear."_ Then Jill hit the end call button and the conversation was ended.

Chris started mulling that conversation over to himself. _"Bowling huh… this should be fun…"_


	4. Chapter 4: Turning Tables

Chapter 4: Turning Tables

Chris woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and _much_ better than the day before, hangovers and waking up in a stranger's bed can really fuck your day up. Chris started milling around his home, getting ready for the day. He went into the kitchen and made some coffee as black as he could and downed it as quickly as he made it, figuring he would need the caffeine for the asses he was going to kick.

After a little breakfast and morning news – unfortunately still about recent bio-terror attacks- Chris grabbed his keys and started up his truck, ready to head out to base. Chris arrived after about half an hour and received some snickers and nervous glances from some of the soldiers around the base as he walked around looking for Andy and Marco.

Chris spotted one of the new recruits that Andy and Marco had joked around with and snuck up behind her before she had a chance to notice him and move away like everyone else that morning. Chris tapped her on the shoulder and she spun around wildly almost jumping out of her gear.

"_Holy shit Captain Redfield what the fuck was that for?!"_

Chris raised an eyebrow at the sudden burst of language. "_On edge today are we S.S.?"_

S.S. rolled her eyes. "_As if Captain Redfield, being on edge is what keeps your old ass alive in the field."_

Chris chuckled gently, "_Really now, what's got you so spunked up today kid?"_

S.S. rubbed the back of her head nervously. "_Uh… Andy and Marco… Sir?"_

Chris raised an eyebrow. "_Oh really now… do you happen to know where I can find those two?"_

S.S. smiled evilly. "_Yeah, dumb and dumber were in the mess hall last time I saw them."_

Chris clapped S.S. on the shoulder. "_Thanks kid, cya later!"_ Chris started to walk away with a hardly evident smirk, cracking his knuckles.

Arriving at the mess hall in only an anticipating five minutes, Chris' chocolate eyes searched the perimeter for his targets; two heads of brown varying in color that were most likely at a table scarfing down semi-warm meats and vegetables. He could tell them from a mile away and silently hoped they hadn't finished eating yet.

While running a few fingers through dark, cropped hair, Chris spotted the two lone figures quietly conversing near the edge of the room, a few other soldiers scattered about but at this point, most had gone. With another devilish grin he made his way to the table, happy that the men were sitting beside one another and not across.

He couldn't ignore the other soldiers seeming to watch him out of the corners of their eyes, suppressing tiny laughs and talking quietly with their other table mates. The conversations were too quiet to hear word-by-word to Chris' ears, but loud enough to realize that they were speculating on the situation.

When Chris was at least a foot away from them, he walked forward and grabbed a fistful of hair from both heads in his large hands, ignoring Andy and Marco's shouts of surprise and protest. When Chris was sure their faces had accumulated enough mashed potatoes and other foods, he lifted their heads once again by the hair and leaned forward,

"Now whose idea was it, and who played along?"

Andy and Marco gave a quick glance behind them and then to each other, Marco grabbing a napkin from his plate. "What if I told you I had no part in this..." his voice wavered as he slowly cleaned the food off his face; crushed and ruined pieces of carrots and lettuce that were once part of a salad.

Andy shook his head (although it was quite hard with Chris holding it in place) and stuck his index finger up in disagreement, "I claim full responsibility for this but Marco is lying and if you kick our asses I recommend you screw him up first, I swear he didn't even try to stop me-"

"Andy you fucking snitch!"

Chris chuckled, a deep, quiet laugh that had Andy and Marco's bickering immediately cease as quickly as it began. "Well boys, in that case, I'll leave you two to enjoy the rest of your meal. See you at the Training Grounds."

Chris let go of their hair and turned, walking out of the mess hall calmer than he came in. All the other soldiers in the room watched him leave and then turned to look to Andy and Marco, who cleaned the rest of the food off their faces and quietly cursed at each other… "You see, I told you shouldn't have put that much-"

"-don't gimme that, if you said something we wouldn't be in this goddamned mess…"

Marco sighed. "Well to hell with it, we've gotten beat downs from Chris before, what's the worst that could happen?"

**_Note:_** **_This is written with another writer from ArchiveOfOurOwn. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and find us on Archive as ViridianK (Me) or SilentShifter._**


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